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Post by Prismaticlysm on Feb 28, 2021 15:55:41 GMT -6
Runt ♦ Phoenix Aodh - Labor Slave ♦ Aodh - Servile Slave Runt watched as Phoenix's arrow struck, snapping a scale and causing more blood to spill. Yet the beast continued to hover over the Goldhead. From off to the side, Edenne summoned the blessing from the fan where an eerie, if not somewhat comforting, sound flowed. Luckily the blessing wasn't directed at him, because the boy would have keeled over right then and there. The wyvern wavered, inching towards them ever so slightly, before she was sucked to the ground as if something slammed into her from above.
Splinters and burning wood sprayed everywhere, and Runt had to turn his head to keep his eyes from being injured from the shrapnel, but he had also forgotten he was beneath Adonis' shield, to which the debris simply bounced off before him. Eyes turned, wide, as he looked through the burning building. Smoke was getting thicker, but Bale charged through, a blinding light of hope. Sola was grounded. Finally. But she was alive, and still vicious. Would Bale be able to finish her off alone? It was too dangerous for the rest of them to go within.
The illusions that had been hovering over Sola's head melted, instead reforming over each of the lingering equines. Where there had once been horses, now stood instead pillars of fire. They could blend in now. It was a simple disguise, one that if Sola blew fire at, the equine would still be hit. But Runt hoped that the disguise would make Sola confused and allow Bale to strike. Or to buy time for the young Wyvern to crush her into the ground from above, to ensure Bale wasn't snapped up in those massive jaws.
He couldn't do anything else.
Eyes peered through the debris to Tesana who was at Jessiah's side, eyeing the shield she had taken up. "Miss Tesana," The boy said, his voice a little hoarse from his shouting; he wasn't used to raising his voice. "Can you shield us? Adonis needs a break I think." The boy glanced to Adonis' flickering shield. "She shouldn't be able to see us, for now." He then turned to look at the silent Aleksei.
"Advisor Aleksei, we need to go! The building might fall on us." It was getting more dangerous. Her arrow had miraculously hit, Edennes blessed fan made Sola's movements more sluggish, and finally, Aleksei's Holy Blessing dragged Sola completely to the ground. But they were still inside the building. Adonis' forcefields were faltering from prolonged attacked and use, and all of this would be for naught if they were all just crushed by the very sanctuary they had met in. Bale, the kirin still bathed in his own light, leaped through debris to stand off against the giant beast. She followed his glow with awe, somehow wishing she had scales to protect her to enable her to follow him.
He really needed someone at his side.
But her eyes were instead distracted by Tesana, who wove her way through broken bits of the building. She asked over the roar of the fire if someone was ok, and Phoenix could only imagine who it was [Jessiah]. Snorting, she gathered herself to her legs, albeit shakily. Her wings were throbbing from overuse, which which annoying and painful, at least they could dangle by her sides.
"He needs help." She said to Adonis, before making her way over to where Tesana was. Runt was right, they had to get out of there. Looking over her shoulder, she peered at Aleksei. "Advisor, she's grounded. Now is the time for Lucius to end it. We should go." She couldn't fathom, after the words left her mouth, why she had spoken so, and to the would-be. But it was true, Lucius was their best bet, but perhaps it was the comforting feeling of being considered an equal, even if it were for a short period of time.
She hoped she did not offend. |
POST COUNT: 12 ♦ WORD COUNT: Runt- 369 ♦ Phoe- 284 (total: 653)
MENTIONS: Edenne, Tesana, Jessiah, Sola, Bale, Adonis, Aleksei, Lucius
INTERACTIONS: Specifically Aleksei, Tesana and Adonis
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Post by kajeayn on Feb 28, 2021 20:54:38 GMT -6
J E S S I A H
post 8 | wc 948
Like a comet, the furia fell from the sky.
The pain of impact was enough to shake them back into their equine form, finding themselves free-falling, pain screaming through their burning legs and the grate of what surely were broken bones grinding against each other.
For a moment, they fell, clawing for a form that didn’t answer them, their body exhausted, screaming in pain as Sola’s fire blazed beneath, around- above?- they couldn’t tell which way was up, falling into the sky as dragonfire bloomed above and below them.
Through all the noise in their head, they heard the thoughts around them. Aleksei’s silent scream, Runt’s sudden shout, Phoenix.
Anna.
Their eyes snapped open, blazing as they wrenched themselves in mid air, phasing as they fell towards the earth. They slammed down into the rubble of the Goldhead’s roof, sending up a wall of pink fire that caught onto some of the rafters and shattered tables nearby. The fire burned sluggishly, oddly subdued by the storm, centered mostly around the figure in the center of what was almost a small crater.
They’d managed to change and slow their descent, but their body ached, fire burning low as for a moment they could only lay there, trying to remember what it was to breathe again, voices clawing around inside their aching skull. They sifted through them, panic in their heart beginning to ease as they listened and confirmed that everyone was still here, still alive.
Thank the gods for that.
A voice came near, and Jessiah’s head turned slightly towards it with a soft, tired huff that sounded distinctly canine as they regarded the hippocampus mare that drew closer.
They tried to understand why she came to check on them, but her thoughts were so honestly concerned they couldn’t muster up the energy to be suspicious or confused.
All they could feel, for a moment, was surprised gratitude.
“I’m… alright, thank you,” Their voice came soft, like a plume of smoke. “Please be careful, Miss Tesana. This place could come down any moment.”
The screaming of Aleksei’s thoughts made their head snap to the side, staring at Aleksei as he came into the burning building- they wanted to all but shove him back out, he couldn’t be here- but they could read his intentions.
The world seemed to shift, bowing under Aleksei’s will, and for a moment they felt as if they were molded into the concrete floor they’d fallen into, their bones heavier than cement, before they forcibly shook themselves out of it.
They brought one leg under themselves, then another, and slowly rose up from the ground, shaking the rubble off themselves. Their legs, especially their forelegs, were coated in a thick layer of golden wyvern blood, nearly up over their knees- as they stepped out of the crater, they left behind a searing, gold paw print, then another, as they forced themselves onward.
They felt Aleksei leave, and they were grateful, their own body beginning to glow hotter as they picked up the pace, from an unsteady walk into a run, throwing themselves into the air.
Bale was being reckless, but they’d stopped being surprised by that already. It was hardly as if they were any better.
The problem, they thought grimly, was only one of them was actually disposable.
But they would not leave him to face Sola alone, regardless of what happened.
They checked again, scanning the thoughts around them, but it seemed almost everyone was out of danger.
“You’ve done so well,” Their voice came into Adonis’s head. “Please hold out a little longer. Can you focus your shield towards the Goldhead?” Their voice was rapidly becoming more distorted, swallowed by flame.
Keep them safe.
They didn’t know if this would kill them- judging by the last time, it wouldn’t go well, and they were accepting of that- but they weren’t about to turn tail and leave Bale to potentially be swallowed whole. Images of the false Phoenix being snapped up in Sola’s jaws danced silently behind their eyes.
They focused, drawing on that image, on everyone else who had fought so hard tonight- Phoenix firing her arrows, Runt baring his teeth and a dagger, Adonis’s smile as he held the door.
Euonia making the choice to make a stand.
It boiled inside them, hotter and hotter, until it almost felt like they held their own sun in their chest, burning so bright it felt as if the cooled gold on their legs began to soften and drip once more.
They bared their blackened teeth, flames crackling between them.
They only had limited options- and just one chance- to attack and hopefully either distract Sola from Bale’s strike, or perhaps, if they both struck together, Sola might not have a chance to react. Fast as lightning, plans and ideas flitted through their mind and were discarded- but a single one, caught from the mind of Phoenix earlier and rising back to their attention now, lingered and glowed in their mind like an ember.
The scales on Sola's belly, some missing, stabbing into her.
Vulnerable.
The flames burned hotter in their chest as they flew low over the rubble of the Goldhead, snatching up a long, twisted piece of metal from a broken window, clutching it in their jaws.
They reached down into their chest, to that burning, roiling sun glowing there, and launched themselves forward with as much speed and power as they could muster.
And they drove every ounce of it- every thought of the others, every feeling, every ounce of bravery they had been shown- behind their blow as they drove the makeshift spear towards the unprotected places of Sola’s stomach.
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Post by mai | nychnymph on Mar 1, 2021 0:56:29 GMT -6
✷ ✷ ✷
When Sola fell to the ground, she was a weight upon the world. It shook under his hooves, and he cast his eyes to her great form with the ice that he threw clutching his heart in fear. His Force Fields flickered away from his hesitation, his lack of focus, and the reprieve made the air in his lungs surge - like the mass of pressure had melted from his shoulders.
But still, he was horrified. Sola was there, before them, wounded and bleeding hot fire across the cobblestones and the broken ruins of buildings under her taloned feet. Phoenix at his side had cast an arrow into the wyvern’s belly, pushing through her injuries with enough strength that could rival the wyvern herself. And Bale… words could not arise that described the depth of the Flamen’s courage.
With the strange melody from Rosalba’s slave Edenne in his ears, still reeling physically from the pressure and magnitude of Aleksei’s powerful blessing, Adonis was quick on the heels of Phoenix as the young one spoke to her. He ripped his eyes away from Sola’s form, from the screeching she emitted as Bale battled her, and looked to Jessiah’s form. Adonis’ heartbeat in his ears.
Runt’s voice to Tesana only vaguely registered. Adonis stared at the body of Jessiah, cast in wyvern blood. His eyes and ears were thousands of miles away, suspended in a potential reality where they lost and Sola killed them all. Would his family be safe…
He swallowed and only snapped back into the present when Jessiah’s soft voice spoke to him.
The slave had risen from the flames very literally, on their feet once more like a pillar of strength he could only dream of imitating. The weakness in his body, the weariness in his bones, everything screamed at him. His hair was limp, body bruised and fighting spirit drained, but it was Jessiah - once more - that urged him forward.
That made him push past the dread in his throat and flare his Force Fields to life once more, aiming for the Goldhead.
I will, he all but hollered back in his head, hoping Jessiah would keep safe as the furia form blazed to life once more and took off, I will keep them safe!
“Stand close,” Adonis said urgently to the equines around him, “Stand together!” He meant it literally, the closer they stood, the easier his Force Field would protect them, but beyond that, he meant it as a rallying cry.
He would protect the Goldhead and their company, he swore upon it to Jessiah - to Runt and Phoenix, whose courage had lit the way, to Tesana with her endless generosity, Edenne with her sweet weaving death song, to Bale, Euonia, Nova, Kaspar, and Aleksei. Without a weapon, Adonis could only focus on his Force Fields, on keeping his waning Blessing from slipping through his tired hooves. He would keep them to the end, to his last dying breath.
✷ ✷ ✷
Interacting: Jessiah, all | Mentions: All
Adonis can hold for one more hard direct hit on his Force Fields before he's out.
8 | 493
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Post by SkyOfNewMoon on Mar 1, 2021 2:44:07 GMT -6
Nova;Aodh | Courtesan shit Frustration gripped Nova like never before as her strongest blessing did absolutely nothing for her, for them. She was so proud of this ragtag group of equines who were facing a Wyvern and the King's Wyvern at that, all because they believe in better, stronger leadership. For that, Nova felt powerful. Yet all she could do was stand to the side, assisting taking down any remaining Chevalier's she could, while those who were able, fought Sola in the sky. She had never used her Lightning Manipulation to that extent before and she could feel herself waning, but she wouldn't, nor could she, give up this fight and walk away now. She was in it until the end, whoever's end that may be.
Her hopes were lifted high as suddenly another Wyvern joined the fray and after a few quickened heartbeats she clicked that this one was on their side. Thank fuck. Though she still could barely watch the battle above as Phoenix and Jessiah threw their entire bodies far too close to Sola's gaping maw. She gave a quick cheer towards Runt and their creative illusions and also in hopes it may help lift anyone else's spirits. Surely this couldn't go on all night. As Sola destroyed more and more of the beautiful Goldhead pub and all of the precious liquor inside, which amongst the frustration she couldn't help but let a tear slip out. Save it all Ignacio, please! She prayed fervently.
Then one look at Aleksei's suddenly focused gaze took her own skyward to watch Sola drowsily drifting far too close to them for Nova's natural instincts, but she planted her hooves to the ground as she watched Aleksei's powerful blessing go to work once again, though this time on a much larger scale, completely grounding the Wyvern, a spray of golden blood flying as she fell. She watched in awe as her attention was caught by Bale running at the literal speed of light at the reptilian body. From the moment fire started burning in the sky, Nova was caught in a time anomaly, everything was either moving extremely fast, like each attack on Sola or wildly slow, like everyone rushing around her with purpose. She needed a drink, desperately, she swore she was going to stop drinking heavily after traumatic events... but what the Starscapes. Whatever got her through the next few days. That mini decision is what speared Nova's next crazy decision. She watched Jessiah now grab sharp debris and propel herself at an unnatural speed and it inspired Nova greatly. Bale could withstand the fire and Jessiah was going to speed right past danger, apparently. Nova took a different route with the same goal, slipping into her shadow, she moved as fast as her body/blessing would allow also taking sharp debris with her aiming for Sola's soft underbelly too. Tonight this bitch would die. If for nothing else, but destroying all of the innocent alcohol and snacks in the Goldhead Pub.
WC: 498 | Post #6artwork by hey-stardust
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Post by ThatDenver on Mar 1, 2021 12:31:50 GMT -6
SOLA
Her one good eye was on the kirin approaching her, weapon first. Sola drew a deep breath, and red flames washed over Bale like water, unable to harm him even as the cobblestone underneath his feet was charred and painted with ash. Bale’s body kept the flames from spreading further, and as he approached, Sola was completely focused on him, lowering her head, maw open, ready to swallow him whole. Even through the illusion she could see him, shining like a beacon in a way Runt could not hope to hide.
But it did hide the others; with her one good eye and a torrent of flame blazing from her maw, Sola could not distinguish them from her own flames.
First came the Furia. The accursed creature danced through the flames and drove something into her. More scales cracked, as if pulled loose by an iron rod. Blood splattered upon the blackened Furia skull, hot and golden and smelling of sulphur. She shook them off, whipping with her flightless arm, claws out, tail smashing wildly. The iron remained embedded in her, keeping more blood from spilling. She was looking for them, looking to grab onto them, crush them. The chaos of it all only fed her fervor, that infernal music still playing somewhere in the sea of sound. She was about to get them, and then.
Then came the relic, striking her in the mouth. Blood spilled freely now, golden. She reared her head in pain, Jessiah forgotten. In terrible pain she swiped about blindly with her arms and tail, throwing Bale off of his feet. Struggling in terrible agony, she tried to get rid of the halberd lodged in her maw, so dangerously close to killing her outright. The relic, embedded in her jaw, made a horrific sound, nails on chalkboard.
And snapped.
One half of the weapon fell to the ground, decidedly dead, its shine gone. The other half was still within her mouth, keeping her from closing it. She fell, and the blade dug down the final inches it needed.
Sola went still with a final, gurgling trash. And then, there was only silence, and the storm of colors.
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Post by ThatDenver on Mar 1, 2021 12:33:03 GMT -6
"Don't fret over me, I'm fine", he told the two slaves who had come over to him. His voice sounded hoarse, as if he'd been screaming all night. Behind them, the fight reached it's final apex. The sound of the relic cracking sent a dissonant note through Aleksei's very soul - the horrifying crack of it. And then, the silence.
He looked at scene that had unfolded. Sola, finally still. Dead. Aleksei could feel her in his blessing; the body stirred just once as he made sure she was indeed gone, muscles moving without their own will.
"She's dead", Aleksei said, voice hollow. In this moment, he felt only sadness. They had killed something that was of the gods, even if they had been forced to do so. "We have killed the King's wyvern", he said then, louder now. A few onlookers were pouring into the streets to witness the scene. Aleksei ushered Lucius away, and the black wyvern flew off into the night as somewhere, bells tolled midnight.
"Isador will never forgive this", Aleksei said, looking at the horses gathered around him. "Come with me to Cinder Hall. We must get out of here before crowds fill the streets", he said, taking a ginger step in the right direction, and finding his legs held well enough: "We must press our advantage. Isador will now be at his weakest. We can not allow him the opportunity to recover from this loss."
Briefly, his mind sought out Jessie, and bid them to find safety.To go rest. To say he was sorry he couldn't afford to wait. And then, he nodded to those around him, and led them out of there, slipping away unnoticed before the crowds found them.
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